The Joy of Friendship
by FriendsLovers
Summary: This was definitely not what they had had in mind. - Eliot/Parker, with Nate/Sophie, and Hardison


**Title:** The Joy of Friendship  
**Prompt:** 14. genre: fluff (written for the Table of Doom challenge at writerverse at LJ)  
**Word Count:** 3,535  
**Rating:** PG - 13  
**Original/Fandom:** Fandom: Leverage  
**Pairings (if any)** Eliot/Parker, with Nate/Sophie, and Hardison  
**Warnings (Non-Con/Dub-Con etc):** none (except that Nate is a little drunk)  
**Summary:** This was definitely not what they had had in mind.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own anyone or anything. I don't own the characters. The fic is written for fun, not for profit.  
**Author's note:** You can read this as a future part of 'What It's Like', if you want. ;)

* * *

The wedding had been different. The fact that they had gotten married in the first place had been interesting enough. After all, they weren't Nate and Sophie. When it came to those two, a wedding had been supposed to happen sooner or later. For years, they had been dancing around each other, the tension between them had increased until it had unloaded in friends with benefits and later in a relationship.

This step, although they had needed quite a while to even get together in the first place, had been expected. Nate had been married before and even though said marriage had failed, he had admitted himself that he didn't believe there was anything wrong with weddings. Sophie was a romantic anyway. She saw the beautiful side of a wedding, and probably had been eagerly looking forward to this special day.

Neither Parker nor Eliot could be compared to them though. He had been close to getting married once, but Aimee had been right with assuming that he couldn't just settle down and be a calm, ordinary husband to a wife. And Parker? Weddings and Parker just didn't seem to work together at all. Poor woman had believed being bridesmaid had already been torture for her.

They weren't like Sophie and Nate. Still, the couple had decided to make this step somewhere along the line. But both had been fully aware of the fact that their marriage would be everything but ordinary. After all, who had to decided which rules a marriage had to follow? Or a wedding? Making this step was entirely about them, not about others' ideas of it.

Because getting married wasn't about the party after all. It also wasn't about settling down, about becoming an ordinary couple like millions of others out there. There was more to getting married than that.

That neither of them would just let go of who they were had been clear right from the start. They also hadn't agreed to make this step because it was romantic either. In fact, they had simply done it for the basic idea behind it: promising to love and be there for each other forever. Neither of them was used to having a normal all day life. Their jobs were just one of many reasons. And neither Parker nor Eliot wanted to change that.

Yet somewhere along the line, both had realised that being alone wasn't exactly what they wanted anymore either. They blamed the team for that. Somewhere along the line, they had gotten used to having others around them, to knowing that there would always be someone to have their back if they needed them to. All of them had gotten to the point in the past where they had realised that depending on a team made sure a job would eventually work. Only trusting in themselves and no one else could result in problems.

So what was marriage really about? Was the big, expensive party important? Or whatever cliché people liked to come up with when thinking about it?

Marriage was more than that. Being married meant that the person by your side would officially promise to stay by your side, to love you, just the way you are, to be there for you if you need them. Marriage meant stability, in the only way both of them were willing to accept. Because while both of them needed their freedom and independence, they had gotten to the point where they were longing for at least a little stability in their lives. With each other.

But not being like your average couple meant the wedding wouldn't be a standard one either. There hadn't been a big party. In fact, there hadn't been a party at all. Or a church. Or any other big room that offered space for guests and a big cake. After all, who needed something like that if they owned a nice house, surrounded by nothing else but endless fields, outside the city of Los Angeles?

Looking for a new place had become necessary as Nate and Sophie had decided to move back to Los Angeles after their wedding and the team had, of course, agreed to go with them. For Eliot, there had been no way for him to let Parker move back into a warehouse, especially not as they had already been engaged by that time. Much to his relief and surprise, she had agreed to this plan.

Fortunately, they didn't have to waste much time with house hunting either. The one outside of the city had seemed to be perfect right from the start. Out here, they didn't have to deal with people, who could get on their nerves or, even worse, whom they would have to interact with. They were all to themselves: a big advantage for Parker. Being surrounded by nothing else but fields also meant that every visitor could be spotted already before they got anywhere close to the house: a big advantage in Eliot's opinion.

And so, the house had become theirs, and had turned out to be the perfect location for the wedding as well. No one else but the team and Archie had been invited. There had been no fancy dresses for anyone, the bride included, and it had been Nate who had married them.

The wedding had been small, and as unusual as it could have been, but eventually, it had done the purpose. Same could be said about the honeymoon that was supposed to follow. Who needed to travel to a romantic island or around the world if that was pretty much their daily business anyway? Travelling wasn't anything special to them. Staying at their house, alone and without anyone interrupting the peaceful silence, was a different story though.

Closing his eyes, Eliot took in the warm, fresh air. Out here, the city seemed to be miles away, although they could see it in the distance if they looked closely. On this point, he fully agreed with Parker: neither of them enjoyed the company of other people much. Having a place to go to after a stressful job where no one would get on their nerves, where no frustrating noises were bothering them, was definitely an upside.

Spending the first days of their honeymoon with doing pretty much nothing productive was, too. Lying on the large deckchair on their front porch, Eliot was listening to the rushing wind as it was stroking across the wide fields, and to the noises his wife was making. A tiny smirk lit his face as he pulled her a little closer. She couldn't sit still for longer than a few minutes. She bored too easily. Half way lying on top of him, she was currently practising with her locks to keep herself busy.

"Can't you just do nothing for once?" he wanted to know then, eventually opening his eyes to gaze up at her. She didn't even look bored. In fact, she seemed to be completely relaxed: something one didn't see often.

"I'm not really doing anything," Parker answered.

"You're practising," Eliot replied. "How's that 'nothing'?" Tightening his arms around her, he pulled her even closer. "Just do nothing. Relax." He ran a hand through her blond hair before he guided her down to him for a kiss. As he pulled back again, he found her smirking in response.

"I am relaxed," Parker stated. Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked up briefly. "Oh, look at that! We're about to have guests."

"Guests?" Alarmed by her words, he sat up straight to have a better view at the long, wavy road that led up to their house. Who would come out here to see them? The team wouldn't dare to interrupt their honeymoon after all.

His theory was proven wrong as soon as he identified the driver, racing the car down the road with way too much speed.

"Dammit, Sophie," he cursed as Parker got off of him. "I thought we were clear when we said we didn't want any visitors! At least not without calling us first!"

"Maybe something's wrong," Parker suggested. "She's driving pretty fast." A broad grin lit her face. "I like how fast she's driving."

"Yeah, fantastic driving skills." Eliot rolled his eyes, in frustration watching the car as it approached them. By the time Sophie had parked it at the side of the house and firmly made her way up to the front porch, he knew Parker was right. Something was wrong. Even better.

"I'm sorry if I'm bothering you," their friend greeted them eventually. Releasing a deep sigh, she added, "I wouldn't even have come around so spontaneously, but I didn't really want to do anything stupid. Like killing Nate."

Killing Nate. So that was what this was all about. Mentally, Eliot groaned at the other couple. Even now that they were married, they still seemed to come up with reasons to fight over.

"Oh, what did he do?" Parker asked curiously. "Did he leave the toilet seat up?"

"What? No." Sophie sighed again, and, without a further warning, walked past the couple, right into their house.

"Well, welcome to our house, make yourself comfortable," Eliot growled as he followed Parker inside. Sophie was good at reading people, at understanding them. Either something was really bothering her or she was seriously trying to annoy them with ignoring their privacy like that.

"I mean...when will he ever change?" Sophie continued as she stopped midway in the living room. "I'm so tired of him constantly repeating he's a functional alcoholic. Who's he kidding? Me, of all people? Or is he trying to convince himself? And he's not even listening! I keep on repeating myself, and what does he do? Just continues to use that excuse!"

Parker, who had been rather welcoming to her best friend, obviously had changed her mind as well by now. Eliot resisted the urge to grin at the puzzled look on his wife's face. Even though she had learnt a lot over the past years, she was still overwhelmed when people reacted emotional like Sophie. Mostly because she had absolutely no idea how to deal with such emotions or make the other person stop. Briefly, she threw a quick glance into his direction, silently asking for help.

"Parker, why don't you take Sophie upstairs and offer her a drink?" he suggested. "She really looks like she needs one."

"Oh, absolutely," Sophie agreed. "A glass of wine would be most welcome now."

Parker glared at him. He just shrugged in response. Sophie was her best friend after all, and there was no way in hell he would sit down with her and listen to her relationship problems with Nate. It was about time Parker learnt how to do that.

"But you know, wine is alcohol as well," Parker stated as she finally decided to lead Sophie upstairs. "You'd not really be better than Nate then."

"I'm not an alcoholic, Parker," Sophie answered. "And in all honesty, I couldn't care less at the moment."

Eliot grinned at his wife as she threw another glare into his direction. A good glass of wine and some complaining would certainly calm down Sophie enough so they could call her a taxi and send her back home. Just as he wondered what to do until then, a firm knocking at the front door interrupted him in his thoughts. Before he got a chance to react, said door was pushed open and Nate entered.

"What the hell?" Unable to say anything else, Eliot stared at the man in front of him in disbelief.

"Oh, you're home. Very good." Nate offered a grin he knew only too well.

"Are you drunk?" Eliot wanted to know. "Did you drive all that way out here like that?"

"What? No, of course not." Nate shook his head firmly. "Just might have had one drink...or two."

"Or maybe a bottle or two?" Groaning in growing frustration, Eliot grabbed his friend's arm and pulled him into the living room. "Didn't we have an agreement when it comes to you drinking? No damn driving!"

"I know what I'm doing, alright? I'm not drunk," Nate shot back. "I can move and think properly. I'm fully aware of what I'm doing."

"Yeah, yeah, 'cause you're a functional alcoholic, right?" Shaking his head, Eliot shoved him onto the couch. "And why are you here? Let me guess, you argued with Sophie?" He winced as he thought of the woman, currently upstairs with Parker. A meeting between husband and wife was the last thing he wanted to see right now, but sending Nate away like that wasn't an option either.

"Sophie..." Nate sighed deeply. "I don't get what her problem is? Yeah, I know she doesn't like to see me drinking, but it's not a problem. It's not! I'm aware of my actions, and I'm in control over this. She's the one with a problem, because she doesn't see it that way!"

"Yeah, perfect." Closing his eyes, Eliot tried to fight down his growing anger. Payback was a bitch, that was for sure. He couldn't really tell whether taking care of a pissed off Sophie or a semi-drunk, pissed off Nate was worse.

Before he got the chance to think any further about what to do with this situation though, another sound caught his attention.

"I'll be right back," he said. "Stay here."

Ignoring Nate's reply, Eliot hurried outside again. His worst expectation was proven right as he spotted the van that was slowly making its way down the road now. He would recognize Lucille from every distance.

"What kind of a sick nightmare is that?" he sighed in growing disbelief.

With squealing wheels, the van came to stop right in front of the house. An obviously fuming Hardison jumped out, with large steps making his way up to the front porch.

"I'm going to explode one day, man!" he complained. "You won't believe that I'm part of this team for years, right? I'm sorry if Nate and Sophie have some kind of weird parents problem, but I'm not their damn child!"

"No?" Eliot sighed. "And what did they do that pissed you off enough to come out here?"

"What did they do?" Hardison made an annoyed noise. "What they always do! They're treating me like a kid, man! Seriously, I'm kinda glad for all that mother-father-family thing we've all going on, but come on! I'm an adult, ain't I? Don't need them to constantly tell me what the hell to do!"

"Okay, you know what?" Eliot interrupted as his friend stopped for a brief moment to catch his breath. "Why don't you just sit down here, and I'll get you a beer?"

"Yeah, yeah, beer sounds good." Nodding, Hardison let himself fall into the deckchair, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Hurrying inside again, Eliot ignored the fact that Nate had gotten himself a beer as well. This was definitely not how he had imagined his honeymoon to turn out. Forcefully, he opened the fridge. Soft footsteps announced that Parker was no longer upstairs anymore either then.

"What's Nate doing here?" she hissed as she joined him in the kitchen. She threw a quick glance out of the kitchen window. "And Hardison? What's he doing in my deckchair?!"

"How should I know?" Slamming the fridge shut, he turned around to his wife. "Why aren't you upstairs anymore?"

"Sophie refuses to drink the wine." Parker rolled her eyes. "She says she's not in the mood. Can you believe that? Changes her mood from one second to the other. And that after I'd already opened a bottle and offered her a glass! Now she wants water."

Despite his frustration, Eliot couldn't help but smile at her words. Only Parker would get upset over the most unimportant part of this situation.

"Take care of Sophie and make sure she doesn't come downstairs," he said then. "I'll take care of these two."

Nodding in response, Parker filled a glass with water and headed upstairs again. Eliot returned to Hardison to hand over the bottle.

"Can you believe this, man?" he started once again. "Like a baby! They're treating me like a baby! What'd they do if I really behaved like one, huh? I know how to do my damn job!"

"I guess that's how families work, you know." Eliot shrugged. He let Hardison talk for another minute before he headed back inside.

"Nate, listen..." he started. The man turned around at the call of his name. In horror, he heard the noises coming from upstairs then.

"Sophie, I really think we should stay upstairs," a desperate Parker shouted after her friend. "I...could show you something...shiny, or whatever."

Sophie had already reached the bottom of the stairs though. She stopped in her tracks as she spotted her husband then, who had just gotten up from the couch.

"Nate?" she asked surprised.

"Sophie," he stated.

"What...did you drive here?" she wanted to know, in utter disbelief narrowing her eyes at her husband.

"Holy shit," Eliot sighed, running a hand through his hair as he stared at the scene in front of him. He didn't even look up as the front door was opened and Hardison entered as well.

"What are you doing here?" Nate asked as the couple interrupted their rapidly heating up argument for a moment.

"You want to know what I'm doing here?" Hardison asked back. And with that, the argument continued.

"Whoa," Parker whispered. "That's pretty creepy, isn't it?"

Eliot barely heard her though. His former disbelief by the turn of events was quickly being replaced by rapidly increasing anger. No, this definitely wasn't the way he had imagined his honeymoon. Not at all. They were supposed to relax, to do whatever came to their mind, naughty or not, that did not involve anyone else. The team included.

"Okay, everyone shut the hell up now!" he roared as he couldn't take it any longer. The argument stopped instantly, but he wasn't done with them yet. "What the hell do you think you're doing, huh?! You seriously dare to come to my house like that? To complain about such shitty, unimportant crap? This is supposed to be our damn honeymoon! We agreed that no one, NO ONE showed up here, at least not without calling first!"

He took a deep breath, for a second taking in the surprised faces of his three friends. "Nate, stop that shit about being a functional alcoholic, or at least stop using it as a damn excuse all the time, especially not in front of Sophie. She's been way too patient with you already anyway. And don't drive like that! Sophie, you knew what you were getting into when you agreed to marry him, so stop trying to change him. You should know by now it won't work, because he's as stubborn as you. And the both of you: stop treating Hardison like a kid. He's an adult and he knows how to do his damn job!"

"Ha!" Hardison grinned satisfied. "See? Told you so!"

"I'm not done yet," Eliot growled at him. "And you...if you don't behave like a baby, you're not treated like one! Grow up, man! And if you have a problem with how people treat you, tell them, not come to me with that, dammit!"

"And what about me?" Parker asked as he had finished.

"What about you?" He gave her a confused look.

"What should I change?" she wanted to know. "Nothing you want to yell at me?"

It was more the curious look she was giving him than her actual words that made him want to laugh and roll his eyes at the same time. "Believe it or not, but right now, you're not doing anything annoying," he answered eventually.

She grinned proudly. "Good."

Shaking his head at her, he turned back to their friends. "Are we done here now? If so, I'd be happy if we could go on with our honeymoon. Doubt that's too much to ask for, right?"

"Nah, man, it's alright." With a nod, Hardison headed for the front door. "Just...have fun or...whatever."

Nate and Sophie didn't reply. Instead, the latter grabbed her husband's arm. "I'll drive. We can pick up your car later. I guess that's nothing we have to argue about, right?"

"I guess not," Nate answered quietly.

Eliot rolled his eyes at the look the couple exchanged. Why argue in the first place when it was a given that such glances would be exchanged afterwards? Together with Parker, he watched Lucille and Sophie's car slowly leaving eventually.

"Wow," Parker said impressed. "When they're pissed off at each other like that, they'd fit perfectly well into a madhouse." She giggled. "You know, I've been to one once. 'Cause I scared the therapists off that did those tests with me." Whispering, she added, "They didn't know I was just faking the tests to annoy them."

Eliot just stared back at her in response. "I really wonder when I turned into the only sane member of this team," he sighed as Parker linked her arm with his and pulled him back outside.


End file.
